Family and Friends of John Hager - Chapman Legacy Society
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Gifts Established:

  • John Hager Law School Lectureship | Est. 1991
brick engraved with name Family and Friends of John Hager

Family and Friends of John Hager

John W. Hager served as a faculty member at The University of Tulsa College of Law for 39 years. Teaching was one of his greatest joys, and he did it with enthusiasm, passion and humor. He made students laugh at themselves and loved nothing better than to be fooled in return by their mastery of legal matters. In recognition of his teaching talents, he received the University’s first campus-wide Distinguished Teaching Award in 1980, and he was honored many times by TU Law’s Student Bar Association as its Teacher of the Year.

John Hager served in the U. S. Army from 1940 to 1946 before attending and graduating from The University of Oklahoma with his bachelor’s degree and his law degree. In 1950, Hager began teaching TU law school classes at night; by day, he served as assistant city attorney and later practiced with the law firm of Landrith and McGee. Once TU Law began offering daytime classes, he was able to move seamlessly into a full-time faculty position. At TU, he specialized in teaching torts and criminal law, and he soon became known as “King of Torts.”

John Hager retired from TU in 1989, taking the title of Professor Emeritus, but he passed away just two years later in August of 1991. The John W. Hager Distinguished Lecture in Law endowment was established through the generosity of members of his family and the many friends, colleagues, and students who cherished the opportunity to know and learn from Hager. This important endowed lectureship brings distinguished speakers to TU to honor the legacy of John W. Hager and his standard of excellence. Lecturers are asked to share their ideas about law and justice.